Feeding and stacking machine



D 1954 M. L. MATTHEWS 2,698,176

FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed March 17. 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jfer'i'orz/l. Wai'lhews HTTORNE KS- Dec. 28, 1954 M. MATTHEWS 2,698,176

FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed March 17. 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 2 fl/9 INVENTOR.

JVerZorz .11. Ma Z'Z'hews BY M H77'ORNE Y5.

Dec. 28, 1954 M. L. MATTHEWS 2,

FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1952 11 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 28, 1954 MATTHEWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE ll Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 17, 1952 Dec. 28, 1954 M. L. MATTHEWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE ll Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 17. 1952 HTTORNE S.

Dec. 28, 1954 M, MATTHEWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE ll Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 17. 1952 INVENTOR. WerivrL L. J70 ZZ/zews Dec. 28, 1954 M. 1.. MATTHEWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE l1 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed March 17, 1952 m m m m -UHBFLIIIIILII Wk flerfb n12, flaii'hews HTTORNEYJ- Dec. 28, 1954 M. MATTHEWS 2,698,176

FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed March 17. 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR. flerz'on Z.. flu Z'i'hews "mam .flTTORNEYS.

Dec. 28, 1954 M. L. MATTHEWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE l1 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed March 17, 1952 Dec. 28, 1954 MATTHEWS 2,698,176

FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 10 HTTORNEKS M. L. MATTH EWS FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE] Dec. 28, 1954 ll Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed March 17, 1952 HTTORNEYSQ United States Patent FEEDING AND STACKING MACHINE Merton 1.. Matthews, Westerly, R. 1., assignor to Maxson Automatic Machinery ompany, Westerly, R. L, a corporation of Rhode island Application March 17, 1952, Serial N 0. 276,993

3 Claims. (Cl. 271--89) The present invention relates to feeding and stacking machines, and more particularly to machines for feeding and stacking sheet material, like paper and paper board.

A machine is described in United States Letters Patent 2,521,075, issued September 5, 1950, to Louis L. Matthews, comprising a plurality of tapes for feeding the sheets into a lay-boy, where they become stacked upon a main support that is automatically lowered by degrees to maintain the top of the stack of sheets at substantially constant height. In order continuously to operate the machine without shut-down when the main support has become lowered to the floor, completely loaded with stacked sheets, an auxiliary support is provided in the form of a plurality of fingers. These fingers are caused to be extended above the main support in order to receive the sheets temporarily until the loaded main support has become removed and a new main support has been inserted underneath the auxiliary support. This machine has been found to be very satisfactory, in practice.

Upon occasion, however, paper, paper board and the l1ke may have a tendency to slip laterally along the extended fingers of the auxiliary support.

An object of the present invention, thus, is to provide a new and improved feeding and stacking machine of this character adapted for the employment of the extended finger type of auxiliary support and provided with means for preventing sheets from slipping laterally along the auxiliary support while the sheets are jogged to align them.

A further object is to provide a new and improved ogger that assists in accomplishing this desired result.

In summary, thls result is achieved, in accordance w th the present invention, with the aid of preferably planar sideogging blades each of which is supported with its bottom edge sloping downward and forward and with the forward end of the bottom edge disposed below the upper surfaces of adjacent fingers of the auxiliary support, and the rear end of the bottom edge disposed above the fingers.

Other and further objects will be explained hereinafter and W111 be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The nvention will now be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which F1gs. l and 11k together constitute a diagrammatic view in side elevation, with parts broken away, for clearness, of a paper-cutting-and-feeding machine embodying the present nvention, with Figs. 1 and 1A being joined along the lmes A-A, and the fingers constituting the auxiliary support being shown retracted; Fig. 2 is a sectiontaken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a plan of the left-hand portion of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 1A, the auxiliary supporting fingers being shown extended, with a portion of a sheet resting thereon; Fig. 4 is an end elevation, looking from the left of Figs. 1, 1A, 2 and 3, Fig. 5 is a section taken upon the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 2 upon a larger scale, showing the auxiliary supporting fingers partly extended; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation, upon a larger scale, of the I-beam and angle construction shown in side elevation at the upper left of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is an elevation of a detail showing the rear support for the supporting fingers, looking from the left, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, but upon a larger scale; Fig. 9 1s a section taken upon the ice 2v line 9-9 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, upon a larger scale; Fig. 10 is a view looking from above, in Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the machine in a diagrammatic view of circuits for controlling the operation of extending and retracting the auxiliary supporting fingers, the supporting fingers being shown retracted; Fig. 12 is a View similar to Fig. 11, showing the supporting fingers extended; and Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective, upon a larger scale.

The drawings illustrate the before-mentioned papersheet-cutting-and-feeding machine of well-known type, such as is commonly employed in paper and paperboard mills, to cut webs from a roll or rolls into sheets, and feeding the sheets by means of more or less horizontal conveyor tapes, into a lay-boy.

A web 32 is led from a paper roll (not shown) of paper to feed rolls 10, by which the paper is advanced to a stationary bed-knife cutter 15. The term web, paper, sheet or its equivalent, will be employed herein to denote either a single layer or a plurality of superposed layers of the paper or other material. A rotary cutter 16 cooperates with the bed cutter 15 to cut the traveling web into sheets 56 of the desired length. The invention is equally applicable to machines for feeding previously cut sheets.

Owing to the feeding action of the rolls 10, aided by gravity, the sheets 56 travel, at a downward incline, toward a series of cooperating conveyor tapes or belts 2 and 6. The plurality of conveyor tapes or belts 2 and 6 and the rotary cutter 16 are actuated by any desired mechanism 1. The conveyor tapes or belts 6 are disposed approximately horizontal, at a level below the level at which the web 32 is fed between the rolls 10, but they may be inclined slightly upward, to slope toward the lay-boy 4. Together with the bed-knife cutter 15 and other parts of the machine, the tapes or belts 2 and 6 are mounted on a frame 26 to the rear of the lay-boy 4.

The tapes 2 and 6 feed the sheets 56 forward in order to deliver them singly into the lay-boy 4 upon a main skid support or platform 11, for stacking and piling. The tapes 2 and 6 are naturally above the level of the main support 11 in the lay-boy 4. When the rotary cutter 16 and the tapes 2 and 6 start operating, the level of the main skid support or platform 11 has been raised to its highest position just below the tapes 2 and 6 and sheets 56 commence to be stacked thereon. As sheets 56 become stacked on the skid support or platform 11, the platform becomes progressively lowered by degrees, eventually reaching the floor, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the lay-boy 4, the sheets 56 engage front stops 25, Figs. 1 to 4, 6 and 13, to limit their further forward movement. The sheets are jogged by laterally oscillating side jogger blades 5, in the usual manner. The side jogger blades 5 will be oscillated with their forward downwardly inclined portions, hereinafter described, between or outside the hereinafter described fingers 28. The side jogger blades 5 and rear joggers 7, in combination with stationary fingers 8, assure that the sheets 56 shall be stacked or piled evenly. Constructions for effecting this result are described, for example, in Letters Patents 2,261,972, issued November 11, 1941, and 2,367,416, issued January 16, 1945, to Louis L. Matthews.

The front stops 25 are illustrated as backboards. As the length of the sheets 56 that may be stacked or piled in the lay-boy 4 is determined by the position of these front-stop backboards 25, they should be adjustable. They are therefore shown carried upon bracket arms 58 that are provided with hooks 9 hooked over the upper arm of a supporting-arm carriage 13, shown as a transversely disposed I-shaped beam. The hooks 9 may be adjustably bolted in place upon the carriage 13 by bolts 19. A similarly transversely disposed shaft 14, the ends of which carry gears 17, is rotatably mounted in this carriage 13, adjacent to the vertically disposed arm of the I beam. Figs. 6 and 13 show the shaft 14, upon larger scales, resting on the horizontal leg 60 of the I-shaped beam of this carriage 13. The gears 17 mesh with fixed longitudinally disposed racks 18. Rotation of the shaft 14, through the intermeshing arrangement of the gears 17 and the racks 18, will result in adjustment of the carriage 13, 60 lengthwise of the machine, thus effecting corresponding adjustment of the stops 25.

As before stated, the mainfskid support or platform 11 is initially raised to a level just below that of the delivery tapes. 2 and 6', andas thesheets continue to be fed'into the lay-boy' l, and become stacked or piled on themain support 11, themain support 11 becomes automatically lowered, by degrees, in order to maintain the level of the stack or pile of sheets 56 approximately uniform. This may be effected in any desired manner,-as under the control of oscillatory hooked-members 12, as described, for example, in Letters Patent 1,545,912 issued July 14, 1925, to Charles B. M axson In time, the support will become lowered to the fioor, as shown in Fig. 1. An auxiliary support for temporarily receiving the sheets 56 during-the removal of the completed stack and the replacement of a new main support 11 ,then is rendered effective on which the sheets 56 may continue to be stacked or piled temporarily, for subsequent transfer to a substituted main'support 11. The'auxiliary support is constituted of aplurality of horizontally disposed supporting fingers 28 arranged in the form of a grid disposed normally justbelow the tapes 2 and 6 from side to side of the machine. The fingers 28 are of relatively small cross-dimension vertically. A very satisfactory form that the fingers may assume is inch-diameter tubing. A space of inch is available above the top of the completed stack and below the level of the path of feed of the sheets 56 at the time that the sheets 56 are delivered by the tapes 2 and 6 thereabove into the layboy 4. The fingers may be about 2 /2 inches apart. The forward free ends of the tubing fingers 28 are plugged, as shown at 30. The rear ends of the tubing fingers 28 are secured to the transversely disposed bar of a carriage 3, Figs. 1A to and 8 to 12.

The transversely disposed bar of this carriage 3 is provided at its ends with guide plates 34 each having a pair of upper and a pair of lower guide rollers 36.- The guide plates 34 are mountedto slide along longitudinally disposed tracks 38, one at each side of the machine, the upper and lower pairs of rollers 36 respectively engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the tracks 38 for anti-friction purposes.- The-carriage 3=is thus slidable back and forth longitudinally of the. machine.

The fingers 28 are normally retracted 'toward the frame 26 along the slide'38 so asto-be disposed in back of the rear joggers 7, as shown. in Figs- 1, 1A and 1 1. At the completionhof a-stack',-however, the carriage 3 to which these rear ends are secured is: actuated horizontally forwardalong the tracks 38 toward: the lay-boy 4, inorder to carry the fingers 28 beyond the stationary fingers 8 and therearjog'gers -7 ,-into the lay-boy 4, so as to-dispose them .just above the top sheet-of the-completed stack, and below the tapes-2 and .6', as illustratedin Figs. 2, 3 and 1'2.-The fingers 28 are shown occupying an intermediately disposed-position in Fig. 6. 1

Upon the completion of the stackand just prior to the main support orplatform 11 reachingthe fioor, the supporting fingers 28areextendedforward into the lay-boy 4 to .theposition of Figs.2, 3and ,1 2.- The support 11 is lowered the remaining shortdistance to the floor later, electrically orrnanually. The fingers.28 are extended forward-rapidly, so that thenext following sheets 56 fed from-between the-tapes 2-and 6 will be received temporarily upon the upper substantially-co-planarsurfaces of the extending fingers 28, instead of on the stack below,- and without shutting down the equipment. The tapes 2 and 6 continue to feed the sheets on to the extending fingers 28, during the removalofthe-main support 11, with the stack thereon, and the substitution therefor of a new main skid support 11, not shown. The new main skid support 11 is thereupon raised, by means of a well-known lay-boy elevating table, notshown, to its uppermost position, justtbelow and in contact with the extending fingers 28- The extending fingers 28 are thereupon retracted to their original position, shown in Fig. l. The sheets thus temporarily stacked on the extended fingers 28 becomethereupon automatically lowered on to the new main support l1,thr0\1gh the small verticalspace corresponding to the thickness of the fingers 28.

It has heretofore been thepractice', as disclosed in the said Matthews Letters Patent 2,521,075, to dispose the jogger blades with their bottom edges substantially parallel to the fingers 28 of thewauxiliary support and positioned so that when the fingers 28"are in their extended position,

ready to receive the sheets, there is a space between the bottom edges of the jogger blades Sand the upper surfaces of the fingers 28. Through this space, paper sheets and the like may slip laterally along the fingers 28 outside the region defined by the jogger blades. This may occur until a sufiicient number of sheets has been fed onto the fingers 28 to fill the said space, whereupon further sheets are properly stacked and jogged between the joggers. When, therefore, the fingers 28 of the auxiliary support are withdrawn or retracted, and the stack of sheets accumulated thereon is dropped upon a new skid support or platform 11, the bottom sheets may be out of alignment with the stack.

This misalignment is prevented, in accordance with the present invention, by supporting the jogger blades in the conventional manner described in the said Matthews Letters Patent 2,261,972 and 2,367,416, but with the bottom edge of each jogger blade sloping downward and forward at a preferably acute angle 0:, Figs. 1, 2, 11 and 12, with respect to thefingers28, instead of extending substantially parallel to the fingers 28. The angle a may have a value, for example, of from about ten to thirty degrees, more or less, depending upon the-length of the jogger blades. The forward end of the bottom edge of each jogger blade, moreover, is disposed below the upper surfaces of the fingers, and, in the case of sheets of width less than the complete width of the auxiliary support, being inserted between adjacent fingers 28, as more clearly shown in Fig. 12. .The rear end of the bottom edge of each jogger blade 5, however, is disposed above the fingers 28. When: the sheets are initially fedupon the extended fingers 28, therefore, they can no longer slip laterally along the fingers 28 under'the bottom edges of the jogger blades, since the portion of the bottomedges that is disposed below the plane of the upper surfaces of the fingers 28, and .perhapsbetween the fingers 28,- as before explained, preventsthe lateralescapeof the sheets. The portion of the bottom edge disposed-between the fingers may be about one-half or two-thirds of the length of the bottom edge, more or less, depending upon the size of the sheets;

It is to be understood, furthermore, that.instead of supporting the present-day jogger blades along a slope or incline, different jogger bladesmay be:used. preformed with a sloping or inclined bottom edge. Such .blades may then be supported in the normal fashion, and their bottom edges will then assume the desired position abover In all cases, the danger of a rapidlyrextending described. finger 28 mechanically interfering with one of .the pair of side jogger blades that may happen to be disposed in its path is obviated through the use ofthe sloping bottom edge. Such a finger 28 would travel beneath the rear of the blade disposed above the plane of the upper surfaces of the fingers and would easily guide otf the forward end of the blade because of its downward sloping shape and the resiliency of the finger and the blade. Fingers 28 of so small-diameter tubing, being naturally very flexible, would be unable, however, to carry theload' of the sheets 56 temporarily stacked thereon; we're/it not for the followingsupporting features.= As illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 12, a two-armed pivoted member, of right-angular cross-section, extending fromiside to side of the machine, is normally so disposed that its angle is normally oriented toward on-comin'g fingers 28,; with its upper or more or less upright arm40 at the level of the horizontally disposed-fingers 28, and tilting 'toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, toward the fingers 28. As the free plugged ends 30 of the fingers enter this angle, therefore, toward the limit of :their forward movement into thelay-boy 4, they engage this upper arrn 40inorder to effect pivotal movement ofthe angle member, -tilting it backward, from the position of Fig. 11 into the position of Figs. 221ml 12. The other or more or lesshori zontally disposed arm. 42,'which normally inclines somewhat downward, .is thus caused to pivot upward,-thu s' to effect engagement of. the undersides ofthe forward free ends 30 ofthe fingers 28, as shown in Figs. .2 and l 2, thus turning them up and providing a support for'the forward ends of the fingers The pivotal movement of the angle-iron 40, 42 is limited by forward and rear stops 44 and 46. I v The pivoting of the anglemember 40, 42, may-:be effected inany desired vway, =as'by means ofpivot 'pins 50 projecting from .plates 52 provided with angular grooves 54 in whichthe ends of the angleiron' are fitted as will be understood more particularly from Figs. 3, 7 and 13.

The pivot pins 50 extend into pivot openings 48, Figs.

2, 7 and 13, disposed at the lower ends of the supporting arms 58. For purposes of assembly, each pivot opening is provided half in the arm 58 and the mating half (i1n6a block 62 bolted to the supporting arm 58, Figs. 2 an As the auxiliary support constituted of the supporting fingers 28 is thus supported at two points, spaced a considerable distance apart, by the carriage 3 and the angle iron 40, 42, there is no possibility for any sagging or flexing of the fingers 28, and they may therefore carry a considerable load. Though the angle iron 40, 42, moreover, normally occupies the position illustrated in Fig. 1, in which it is ineffective to support the front free ends 30 of the supporting fingers 28, it is the fingers 28 themselves, when they reach their forward limit of movement, that render the angle iron effective, by tilting it automatically into the position shown in Fig. 2.

It has been stated above that the machine may be adjusted to the handling of different-length sheets by adjusting the position of the stops 25. It is-necessary, of course, to adjust the position of the angle iron 40, 42 to correspond. All that is necessary, to this end, is to mount the angle iron 40, 42 upon the same carriage upon which is mounted the transversely disposed L shaped arm 13, 60 that carries the front stops 25. The plates 52 for supporting the ends of the angle iron 40, 42 are therefore disposed atthe lower ends of the arms 58, shown adjustably bolted to the ends of the supporting arm 13 in Figs. 16 and 13. When the operator adjusts the machine so as to set the front stops 25 for the particular-size sheets 56 fed and stacked in the machine, therefore, he at the same time automatically adjusts properly the position of the angle iron 40, 42 also. The vertical position of the angle iron 40, 42 may also be adjusted by bolting the supporting arm 58 at different vertical positions to the transversely disposed supporting arm 13, 60, as by means of the bolt-and-slot connections shown in Figs. 7 and 13.

The same front stops 25 and the same side joggers 5 and rear joggers 7, therefore, that operate normally to even up the stack as the sheets 56 are fed on to the main skid support 11, therefore, operate also to even up the sheets 56 while they are being temporarily stacked in the auxiliary support constituted of the extending fingers 28. When the supporting fingers 28 are retracted, therefore, they will comb out from under the sheets 56 temporarily stacked thereon, and will travel back through the stationary fingers 8 and the rear joggers 7. The temporarily stacked sheets 56 will therefore be come deposited on the substituted skid support 11 in an even uniform pile.

The rear joggers 7, the stationary fingers 8 and the hooked members 12 are disposed in the spaces between adjacently disposed fingers 28. The level of the fingers 28 is just above the bottoms of the stops 25, in order that the same stops 25 may serve during the stacking of both the main and the temporary stacks or piles of sheets 56. The main support 11, when first introduced into the lay-boy, is raised into contact with the bottoms of the stops 25. The retracted temporary pile, therefore, drops only a very small distance on to the new main support 11 when the fingers 28 are retracted.

The carriage 3 to which the rear ends of the extending supporting fingers 28 are secured is actuated back and forth, to move the extending fingers 28 into and out of the lay-boy 4, by means of two sprocket chains 64 the ends of which are secured to the opposite ends of the respective guide plates 34. The sprocket chains 64 each passes over sprocket wheels 66 and 68 and a sprocketchain tightener 70. The sprocket wheels 66 are mounted at the opposite ends of a transversely disposed shaft 72 and the sprocket wheels 68 at the opposite ends of a similarly disposed shaft 74. The shaft 74 is driven from a motor 76 through connections 78 and a sprocket wheel 80 mounted upon the shaft 74. The supporting fingers 28 may therefore be actuated into and out of the layboy 4 merely by reversing the operation of the motor 76.

Assuming that the fingers 28 occupy the retracted position diagrammatically shown in Fig. 11, and that a stack has been completed on the main skid support 11, a switch 82 may be manipulated from the in" posltlon of Fig. 11 to the out position, as shown in Fig. 12.

This sets the motor 76 into operation in one direction,

of the feed of the sheets 56, in replacement for the top of the just-completed stack. The feeding of the sheets 56 may therefore continue, without interruption, the fingers 28, as before explained, constituting an auxiliary support for the sheets 56. A new stack of sheets, but much smaller than the regular stack before described, becomes thus temporarily deposited on this auxiliary sup port.

Upon the forward ends 30 of the fingers 28 tilting the angle iron 40, 42, from the position of Fig. 11 into the position of Fig. 12, a lever 84 will be actuated, in response to this tilting movement of the angle iron 40, 42, from the position of Fig. 11 into that of Fig. 12, thus causing the position of a front limit switch 86 to open the circuit for the motor 76 and deenergize a solenoid 88, Fig. 12, for actuating a brake 90 that is normally released when the motor 76 is in operation, thus to stop the motor 76 short. This will overcome any tendency for the extending fingers 28 to over-travel. The front limit switch 86 thus determines the position of the fingers 28 above the main skid support 11 with the sheets stacked thereon, though the brake 90 aids in this determination. The front limit switch 86 and the lever 84, of course, are adjustable as a unitvwith the angle iron 40, 42, and the front stops 25, being mounted on the arm 58.

When, after a new skid support 11 has been placed in position, it is desired to retract the fingers 28, so as to deposit the sheets 56 temporarily stacked thereon on to the new skid support 11, the switch 82 will be actuated from the out position, as shown in Fig. 12, to the in position, illustrated in Fig. 11. The motor 76 is thereupon actuated in the reverse direction.

As the free ends 30 of the fingers 28 become thus withdrawn from the angle iron 40, 42, they can not help but re-tip the angle iron 40, 42, into the normal position, illus trated in Fig. 11. This is because of the weight that the free ends 30 of the fingers 28 impose on the arms 42 of the angle iron. This return tilting movement of the angle iron causes the lever 84 to return the limit switch 86, from the position illustrated in Fig. 12, to the original position illustrated in Fig. 11.

When the carriage 3 supporting the rear ends of the fingers 28 reaches its original position, an arm 92 projecting rearwardly thereof engages a rear limit switch 94, Fig. 11, to open the circuit of the motor 76.

The angle iron 40, 42, serves a further function as a safety device to prevent injury to the operator or other person who may happen to be in the vicinity of the machine during the forward movement of the supporting fingers 28 into the lay-boy 4. These fingers 28 enter the lay-boy 4 at considerable speed. In the absence of the angle iron 40, 42, therefore, and if the brake 90 should happen not to operate perfectly, they may travel out forward beyond the front stops 25, to strike a person who may happen to be standing in front of the lay-boy 4. The angle-iron 40, 42, insures that no such injury shell take place.

The present invention is adapted for the feeding and stacking of sheets of any practical length, of any weight stock. It may be employed, for example, to feed and stack sheets inches long and of an inch thick. It is particularly adapted, however, as before explained, to stack sheets of comparatively light weight.

A description of many portions of the machine an understanding of which is not essential to an understanding of the present invention has purposely been omitted and many parts of the machine have purposely not been illustrated in order not to detract attention from the features of essential novelty. Fuller explanations of such portions of the machine will be found in the Letters Patent above referred to. It will be understood that the features of novelty may be embodied in other machines and in machines of other types and that modifications may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet-feeding-and-stacking machine provided with a main support for a stack of sheets, means for feeding sheets forward to the main support for stacking iliary support for a stack of sheets, and means for dispos ing the auxiliary support above the main support in the path of feed of the sheets in order that the feeding means may feed the sheets forward to and upon the said upper substantially co-planar surfaces of the fingers of the auxiliary support for stacking on the auxiliary support; the combination of side-jogging blades and means for supporting each side-jogging blade with its bottom edge sloping downward and forward and with the forward end of the bottom edge disposed below the said plane of the upper surfaces of the fingers of the auxiliary support.

and the rear end thereof disposed above the fingers of the auxiliary support, thereby to prevent sheets stacked upon the-auxiliary support from laterally sliding therealong.

'2. In a sheet-feeding-and-stacking machine provided with a frame, a lay-boy in which a main support may be disposed,'a plurality of tapes for feeding sheets "forward into the lay-boy for-stacking therein on the main support, a carriage, a plurality of fingers the upper surfaces of which lie substantially ina common plane constituting an auxiliary support and the'rear ends of which are mounted on the carriage so that the fingers are normally disposed under the tapes, means for actuating the carriage forward toward'the lay-boy-to dispose the fingers above the main suppor-tbelow the tapes in order that the tapes may feed the sheets to and upon the said upper substantially coplanar .surfaces of the fingers for stacking on the fingers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the fingers when the fingers are disposed above the main supportythe combination of side-jogging blades, and means for supporting each side-jogging blade with its bottom edge sloping downward and forward and with the forward end of the bottom edge disposed below the said plane of the upper surfaces of the fingers and therear end thereof disposed above the fingers, thereby to prevent sheets stacked upon the auxiliary support from laterally sliding therealong.

3. In a sheet-feeding-and-stacking machine having a plurality of fingers the upper surfaces of which lie substantially in a common plane constituting a support disposed in the path of feed of the .sheets in order to receive the sheets and stack .the same on the fingers, side-jogging blades, and means for'supporting each side-jogging blade with its bottom edge sloping .downward and forward and with the forward end of the bottom edge disposed below the said plane. of the upper surfaces of the fingers .and the rear end thereof disposed above the fingers, thereby to prevent sheets stacked upon the support from laterally sliding therealong.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,235,391 Sooy July 23, 1917 1,387,602 La Veck Aug. 16, 1921 1,699,284 English Jan. 15,1929 2,205,767 Lamb June 25, 1940 2,341,021 Curtis Feb. 8, 1944 2,521,075 Matthews Sept. 5, 1950 

